Awngi language
| Awngi | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | ˈawŋi |
| Native to | Ethiopia |
| Region | Agew Awi Zone Amhara Region |
|
Native speakers
|
490,000 (2007 census) |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | awng1244 |
The Awngi language, in older publications also called Awiya (an inappropriate ethnonym), is a Central Cushitic language spoken by the Awi people, living in Central Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia.
Most speakers of the language live in the Agew Awi Zone of the Amhara Region, but there are also communities speaking the language in various areas of Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Until recently, Kunfäl, another Southern Agaw language spoken in the area west of Lake Tana, has been suspected to be a separate language. It has now been shown to be linguistically close to Awngi, and it should be classified as a dialect of that language.
The central vowel /ɨ/ is the default epenthetic vowel of the language and almost totally predictable in its occurrence. Likewise, /æ/, normally an allophone of /a/, is fossilized in some words and might be justified as a separate phoneme.
Palmer and Hetzron both identified three distinctive tone levels in Awngi: high, mid and low. The low tone, however, only appears in word-final position on the vowel a. A falling tone (high-mid) appears on word-final syllables only. Joswig reanalyzes the system as having only two distinctive tone levels, with the low tone being a phonetic variant of the mid tone.
The Awngi syllable in most cases fits the maximum syllable template CVC (C standing for a consonant, V for a vowel). This means there is only one (if any) consonant each in the syllable onset and the rhyme. Exceptions to this happen at word boundaries, where extrametrical consonants may appear.
In positions other than word-initial, Awngi contrasts geminate and non-geminate consonants. The contrast between geminate and non-geminate consonants does not show up for the following consonants: /ɢ, ɢʷ, t͡s, t͡ʃ, j, w, ʒ/.
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